4 Vintage Ghost Horror Movies Ranked
Is it just me, or are the old black and white ghost horror movies the creepiest? Their special effects are primitive, and the acting is often over the top, but there’s something special about the haunted house films of this era that sets them apart from the sleek, big budget ghost movies of modern times.
Whether by choice or necessity, they often don’t give the ghosts much screentime. We hear mysterious noises or see quick visions, but the spirits are usually lurking just offscreen.
The monsters we don’t see are the scariest. That’s why villains like the Blair Witch are creepy, and it’s the reason the ghosts in these films are spookier than the ones in recent movies.
Here are four vintage ghost horror movies ranked.
4. the screaming skull (1958)
Jenni (Peggy Webber) is the second wife of Eric Whitlock (John Hudson), whose first spouse allegedly drowned in a freak accident. After getting hitched, they arrive at Eric’s country home, which he once shared with his first wife.
Jenni, who is in bed alone at night (this was made in the era of the Hays Code, when even the slightest hint of on-screen sexuality was forbidden), experiences a series of strange and terrifying phenomena in the home, including visions of a mysterious skull.
Her husband assures her that she’s just imagining things, but Jenni believes that the jealous spirit of Eric’s first wife is tormenting her. Is she right, or does the ghost have other motivations?
The Screaming Skull has received mostly horrible reviews, but I thought it was decent. Granted, it certainly doesn’t live up to its cheesy ad campaign, which claimed that anyone who died of fright while watching the film would receive a free burial. But it does muster some moments of creepiness in its night time scenes.
Its campy, but not as much as I expected. Still, it’s the weakest movie in this list. The rest are classics.
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3. the haunting (1963)
A group of ghost hunters are invited to investigate Hill House, a 90 year old estate with a history of tragedy. Paranormal activity has been reported in the home.
The investigators are unsettled by the house’s odd and disorienting design. Some of them hear banging noises and disembodied voices.
Hill House’s spirits take a particular interest in tormenting the sensitive Eleanor (Julie Harris), who is reeling from the recent death of her mother. She develops a crush on paranormal investigator Dr. Markway (Richard Johnson) and clashes with Theo (Claire Bloom), a jaded psychic who is one of the few gay characters in 1960s American films.
The group learns the truth about Hill House, but not before the doomed estate adds another chapter to its tragic history. The Haunting is a psychological horror film. It’s much less campy, and far more stylish and subtle, than the typical genre movie of its era. The characters are interesting and the film contains plenty of creepiness, if you have the patience for slow burn storytelling.
The Haunting is based on the Shirley Jackson novel The Haunting of Hill House. Due to the similar titles and plots, it’s often confused with House on Haunted Hill (1959), which is next up on my list.
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2. house on haunted hill (1959)
Eccentric rich dude Frederick Loren (played by horror legend Vincent Price) invites five people to a haunted house that he’s rented. Loren is throwing a macabre birthday party for his young trophy wife, Annabelle (Carol Ohmart), whom he correctly suspects is trying to kill him so that she can inherit his fortune.
He promises the guests $10,000 each (about $112K in today’s money) if they successfully spend the entire night inside the terrifying house. Everyone inside plots against each other. Nothing is as it seems and no one can be trusted.
The House on Haunted Hill is a fiendishly clever classic with a great performance by Price. His master plan is gradually unveiled. Frederick thinks he’s smarter than everyone else, and he just might be right.
This is the type of movie that keeps you guessing. It’s loaded with wild twists. This one narrowly beats The Haunting for #2 because of Vincent Price.
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1. carnival of souls (1962)
A car with three young women inside plunges off a bridge. Two of them perish. The survivor, Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss), is oddly unfazed by her narrow brush with death.
She moves to Salt Lake City and becomes an organist at a local church. Her plans for a return to normalcy are upended by a mysterious man that only she can see. Mary keeps finding herself inexplicably drawn to a nearby abandoned carnival. Her life plunges into a nightmare of surreal and terrifying incidents.
The eerie Twilight Zone-style atmosphere and stylish direction more than make up for the thin story. The direction and cinematography have a film noir look, which you don’t often see in horror movies.
This isn’t a conventional ghost horror movie, and I can’t tell you why without spoiling the twist ending, but Carnival of Souls is the creepiest movie on this list. The final sequence alone is enough to make this one of the most eerie ghost horror movies ever made.
I also have to give Carnival of Souls credit for inspiring my own work. Some elements of my novel, Ghost Town, are loosely based on this movie.
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